About Danielle and Ekana Nursery & Landscaping
Danielle’s Horticulture journey has come full circle. She started working in horticulture as a retail associate at Ekana Nursery and Landscaping while she pursued her degree in Ornamental Horticulture/Landscape Design, from Kishwaukee College. After she completed her degree in 2000, She spent the next 20 years at RLS Landscape and Nursery Co., serving as head designer for the design/build division. She provided showcase landscapes for the Chicagoland’s most premier homes and home builders. Some of her specialties included lakesides, poolscapes and perennial-focused designs.
During this time, Danielle continued her education by attending countless trade shows and horticulture/design-based workshops and seminars. Her favorite was attending Mike Lin’s ‘Be Loose’ graphic workshop in historical Wayne, IL, when he visited the Chicagoland area years ago.
She also acted on the Horticulture advisory board for several years in the mid 2000’s at Kishwaukee College, giving feedback from the industry to the college, so they could provide their current students with knowledge of the industries needs, for the upcoming graduates and current programs
In 2022, Danielle returned to Ekana Nursery & Landscaping as their landscape designer. She hopes to bring all the knowledge of her past 20-plus years in the horticulture design/build industry to a new pool of clientele. One of the biggest benefits of designing at a full-service garden center has been the opportunity to design and renovate all of the garden center’s display beds. This allows her clients to view the plant material she uses, in current growing situations. She was able to display a lot of her favorite combinations of perennials, shrubs, and understory trees. Many of the plant selections were chosen from the Proven Winners assortment.
Danielle is a true artist at heart, when not designing you may find her doing newborn photography, which has also been a passion of hers for the last 10 years. She also enjoys working in her own garden and creating home décor/design. However, most of her free time is currently spent cheering on her two girls as they are very involved in travel softball. On weekends, you will most definitely find her at the softball field.